My wife an I are toying with the idea of buying a block of land in regional Victoria with a plan to build a small house on it at a later date. Don't really have a proper plan for it yet - just want somewhere to escape the city and possibly move to in retirement. Depending on where it is we could look to use it as a short term rental, but that really isn't a driving force.

I was wondering what our options would be in regards to getting finance, and if there were any requirements / pitfalls I should be aware of with a regional property.

Our current financial situation is:

• Married - both in late 40's
• Both on about 130k - partner has good job security, I have pretty good.
• PPOR - worth about 850k, 200k mortgage but fully offset
• About 100k in savings
• Credit card worth 6K
• 2 Teenage kids
• No other depts

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

I'm just wondering if you pretty much blacklist those clients and to what extent e.g. you may still take the 50% clawback people but not 100% etc.

Hey guys, looking for some opinions.

Bought a house last year using the 5% First Home Guarantee so my LVR with CBA is still pretty high. Currently owe around $1.33m at 6.08%, paying about $8,133/month, with roughly $70k in offset.

Unloan is offering 5.89% and their valuation puts me at around 80% LVR. I'd lose the offset, so I'd put the $70k into redraw and keep adding around $4k/month.

Anyone made a similar move to Unloan? Any downsides with redraw vs offset?

I'm also thinking about debt recycling into ETFs in the future. Has anyone done this with Unloan, or does the lack of loan splits make it a pain?

Hello, I posted not long ago about some not enticing refinance options my broker provided. I have a 455k loan and recently got down to 78.79% LVR, current lender P&I rate 6.34%

Best new lender rate is 6.25% and (while this wasn’t even in their first search, I had to ask my broker to check) my current lender would do 6.27% but only if I reapply.

A couple of you have already agreed I should be able to do better for sub 80% LVR and the obvious next step is try calling my lender myself.

Just some questions:
- why would I have to reapply, is that just my broker wanting some payment?
- if I manage to secure better rate from my lender without reapplying, could I get my broker to search again? Ie better rate from the other lender

Any other reasons for the not great deals? I’ve been a “good customer”, no other debts, income has increased decently in 3 years time.

I’m getting closer to actually talking to a broker and want to make sure I’m not going in completely unprepared. I’ve got the basics in mind, but I’m not sure what people normally sort out beforehand. Things like payslips, bank statements, debts, credit cards, spending habits and deposit details seem obvious, but I’m guessing other things can save a lot of back and forth.

Spoke to a broker recommended by a coworker. As soon as I mentioned we were just starting our search and wanted a full formal pre-approval before going to auctions over the next 3 months, their tone shifted. They kept pushing us to just do an "informal assessment" until we find a property. Is it because pre-approvals take up the exact same amount of unpaid work for a broker without any guarantee the deal actually settles?

Looking to buy a first home, however not near my current employment as I plan to relocate within 12 months of purchase.
I’ve been told that to be considered for first home buyers grants schemes etc I need to buy within „commutable distance” of current employment.
I’m looking at buying something 160 odd km away, in a location that I travel to most weekends.
My parents would live in the place temporarily until I move in.
Are there restrictions on where you can buy ?
Heck if I lived in NSW and wanted to buy in TAS and move there after purchase, is that feasible ?
Does that affect deposit amounts, MLI etc ?

If someone has moved into a completely different industry and has only been in their new permanent role for a few months, how much does being on probation actually affect their borrowing options? For example, if they had several years of stable employment in their previous career, no major gaps in employment and are now earning a similar or higher salary in a permanent position, would lenders still be hesitant purely because they haven't completed probation? How brokers usually approach this and whether there are situations where it makes more sense to apply straight away rather than waiting another few months.

I'm interested in purchasing a property to be used as PPOR. It has two small commercial shopfronts underneath. It's a 4-bedroom residence. The commercial floorspace is likely 15-20%, with residential 80-85%. The commercial rental income is tiny, approximately $17k. Property marketed for $1.7million. The value of the property is largely tied up in the residence and the size of the land.

The property is on a single title which I'm sure doesn't help.

Do any brokers or lenders specialise in situations like this? It won't stack up if it's a commercial loan for the entire property, so either needs to be a residential loan, or perhaps the same lender would provide two loans on the same title.

Any help appreciated :)

Hi all, I have recently completed my education to become a mortgage broker and thinking of joining Aussie Home Loans to start my career, anyone here had any experience with them? Whats the comms split like? How much could I make in my first year? Would appreciate any advice. Thanks

Hi everyone, sorry if this question is poorly worded.

Me and my partner have decided to start looking at buying our first property. We both work full time with a combined income of 190k and roughly 180k in savings. Both have HECS debts. Our combined income may be increasing to 215k in the near future.

My question is - from a broker, what would you recommend our price range should be? Is there anything we need to take into account? Hoping to talk to a broker in person soon - what documents will they need to properly assess everything?

Thank you so much for any assistance - feeling a little overwhelmed by all the information out there!

We are a couple living and working in NSW. My partner is a PR and a teacher in the Anglican Catholic school system, I'm on a 482 visa working in tech.

What are our options to buy a property in NSW? We are aiming to buy within the next year and we will have about 100k in cash for a deposit and other fees.

We will aim to buy a property under 800k and hope to use the government schemes and policies to help with our purchase.

We obviously want to avoid paying any foreign surcharge fees or anything like that.

I don't think I'll get a PR for another 3 years or so.

What are our realistic options?

Hey peeps,

I have been playing around with the idea of buying a second home and renting out our first.

Me and my partner both on about $110k, current townhouse valued about $750k with $590k left on the mortgage. Should be able to rent it out for $650 a week. Interest rate 5% locked for another year.

We have $70k in offset and another $70k in investments we would rather not touch.

Looking to buy about $1 million in Canberra for a house

First home buyers in NSW here. We’ve received pre-approval through a broker with St.George and wanted to sanity-check the rate before we go any further.

Details:

- Loan: around $560k

- Purchase price: up to ~$600k

- LVR: ~93%

- Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme

- Owner occupier, P&I

- Variable rate

- 30-year term

- Full offset

- Rate offered: 6.30%

- Annual package fee: $395

Our broker compared St.George with CBA, BankSA, Westpac and Australian Military Bank, with the alternatives coming in around 6.49-6.59%.

Does 6.30% sound competitive for someone using the 5% Deposit Scheme at this LVR, or are brokers/lenders currently offering materially better rates?

Particularly interested in hearing from brokers or recent first-home buyers at 90-95% LVR, since I realise the sub-6% rates people quote at low LVRs aren't really comparable.

We already have pre-approval, so we're mainly deciding whether it's worth getting a second broker to look at it rather than lodging another application.

Planning to upgrade my ppor. Want to know my options realistically. I earn 90k a year. No credit card debt, no car loan. Have 1 credit card with 10k limit. I can reduce to 3-4k to increase borrowing capacity when needed. I am 41 years old. Super balance is 350k. No hecs debt.300k in savings account. No ETF or shares.

Ppor fully paid. Current value would be 700k. No outstanding loan. It is an apt and hence I want to sell once I purchase a new ppor ( house). Ideally the kind of house and suburb I am interested in, it would cost around 1.7 million.

I have an investment property, current value 750k. Fully paid. Currently rented at 600/ week.

Current ppor which is a apt, I want to sell as I don't see value ever going up, but with my current ip, do I also sell and then get a small mortgage of 300-400k ? Or is there a way to keep investment property ?

Additionally, immigrant background. Single. Parents and I only. I am not married, no children, So financially, we are like 1 unit. Both parents retired. Super is 800k + 400k. Plus around 900k in hisa. Planning to add 390k to one of my parents super in 3 years time as they are still under 75.

Can my borrowing capacity increase if I add them to the property title/ loan ? Or if it is just me, what's the maximum I can borrow?

I (36f) currently own a townhouse outright.

For family reasons I have had to move interstate last minute and have to sell my property. I should get just over $600k for it. I used my own money to purchase this property, there was no gift to support it.

I earn 130k and have one dependent.

I have had brutal and unforeseen expenses the last few months and have been spending without knowing a possible mortgage application is in my future.

I have generally saved $500 a fortnight lately but once these unforeseen circumstances calm down I can save a lot more.

I’m worried I won’t get even a small mortgage based on this.

What do you think my options might be?

Tia

Guys, gotta stop with the "Broker Here" start of comment, like thanks mate for clarifying, I was worried you were a plumber.

Happy Friday fellas.

One of the most useful things about a home loan offset account is that it can usually just be your normal everyday transaction account.

Your salary gets paid into it.

Your mortgage repayment comes out of it.

Your bills, groceries and spending can come out of it too.

And while the money is sitting there, it reduces the amount of your home loan that interest is calculated on.

So if you owe $500,000 and have $20,000 sitting in a 100% offset account, you’re generally only being charged interest as though the loan balance was $480,000.

That happens every day.

Which means if your salary gets paid directly into your offset, you’re effectively getting the interest benefit from that money from the moment it arrives — even if your actual mortgage repayment isn’t due for another two weeks.

That’s the bit that gets missed when people talk about weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments.

https://preview.redd.it/dvdcnuogn9jh1.png?width=1536&format=png&auto=webp&s=d5083875b6be98d6e4a765f0aaae3206ad6b0173

Why fortnightly repayments sometimes work

There are normally two reasons.

You pay more over the year.

If your normal monthly repayment is $2,000 and you instead pay $1,000 every fortnight, you make 26 payments.

That’s $26,000 a year rather than $24,000.

The loan gets paid down faster because you paid an extra $2,000.

Or your money gets against the loan sooner.

If your salary normally lands in a separate bank account and sits there until the monthly mortgage repayment comes out, moving money to the loan fortnightly can reduce interest sooner.

But if your salary already lands directly into a full offset account, that benefit is largely already happening.

Your pay might land on Monday.

From Monday onward, that money is already reducing the balance being charged interest.

You can then spend from the offset normally throughout the fortnight.

So you’re effectively getting the benefit of putting your spare cash against the mortgage every payday, without actually having to make a mortgage repayment every payday.

That’s really the magic of an offset account.

It lets your everyday cash work against the mortgage while still remaining accessible.

So if you already:

• get paid into your offset
• keep your savings there
• pay your normal expenses from it
• and have a 100% offset linked to the loan

then congratulations you're already doing the most optimised way saving interest on your home loan.

Fortnightly repayments can still be useful for budgeting or because they cause you to pay extra over the year.

But the frequency itself isn’t the trick.

The real trick is getting as much of your money as possible sitting against the loan, as early as possible.

Hi all,

Just making it very clear as an expectation that unsolicited DMs to members from brokers are unacceptable in this community.
This lowers the quality of the community for everyone.

Any reports of this happening will result in a ban from the community.

Please see the rules in the subreddit.

Members: if you ever receive an unsolicited DM from a broker, please report this to the mods with a screenshot.

Thank you for keeping this community high quality.

Hello, I bought my home 3 years ago for 500k and my LVR was 94%.

I recently checked in with my broker and the value is now 580k and my LVR is now under 80% - my remaining balance is 455k (457k after refinance costs).

My current interest rate is 6.34% and the top new lender result was 6.25% - even maintaining the 27 year term, the repayments are slightly higher than current. My current lender didn’t even come up in the 3 options but I asked my broker to check with them - they could do 6.26% but only as a “new lender” so I’d have to submit an application to renew the loan.

But again even remaining 27 years and with my current lender, the repayments are slightly higher. It doesn’t seem any option is valuable?

So I have a few questions:

- I’ve always thought my broker service has been good (same firm, though I’ve been served by different people), so is it just that this LVR improvement doesn’t do that much?
- I’ve been paying on time, no extra repayments though, my income has increased by 30k since purchase, and I haven’t done anything to the house - does this mean the value is pretty much just based on the market?

Lastly, my goal was to decrease repayments a bit so I can rent elsewhere/lease my place out temporarily + keep a savings buffer for all that. I guess going IO (best rate 6.74% with new lender including pushing to 80% for about 9k cash out) is actually the better option?

Any insight appreciated.